Voters rush to drop ballots before 8 pm deadline

Welcome to election coverage on Fox 13. We have complete live team coverage of the races happening across western Washington and across the country. Jennifer Dowling and A.J. Janneville are covering the contentious third congressional district race between Republican John Braun and incumbent Democrat Marie Glusenkamp-Perez. And Lauren Donovan has a closer look at some major initiatives on the ballot. But first, this is a live look outside of the King County Elections Headquarters in Renton. We're less than four hours away from the eight o'clock. We'll be right back. Will be underway tonight, Jennifer. That's right. Setup is underway here in Chehalis and we're expecting the senator to come by at around 7 o'clock. Currently he is in Kelso. He is doing some sign waving with his campaign, some last minute get out the vote efforts. I'm going to give you a look at what things look like here in Chehalis as that setup continues. You can see that we're going to have quite a few people here. It's a big space for this watch party. Fox 13 sat down with incumbent Democrat Marie Glusenkamp Perez and State Senator John Brown to talk about some of the things that are going to happen. Some of the most pressing issues Washingtonians face in this district with both candidates saying affordability is the biggest. We took a recent FOX 13 online poll and affordability also came on top there. Listen to what each had to say about this issue when we sat down with them a few weeks ago. The top issue for folks without a question is affordability. Ensuring that people are able to make an honest living. As for what each candidate would do about affordability, Marie Glusenkamp Perez said she would continue to vote against the war in Iran and supports freezing the federal and state gas taxes to lower prices. She also supports low-cost hydropower permitting reform to build transmission lines, helping ratepayers through infrastructure and empowering local businesses. Braun says he supports freezing state and federal gas taxes, easing regulations, developing hydropower capacity, investing in transmission lines and converting the closed Lewis County coal plant into gas And simplifying the permitting. process for small modular nuclear reactors. So different plans to tackle what's important to voters here in Lewis County, where we are, and in the rest of southwest Washington as well. So we'll have to see whose plan voters favor and who comes out on top with their campaigns once those votes are counted. Meantime, again, back here in Chehalis. Setup continues. It's a little quiet here. We're expecting that to change at around seven o'clock. Reporting live in Chehalis, Jennifer Dowling, FOX 13 News. Jennifer, thank you. Let's turn now to Fox 13's A.J. Janneville live in Vancouver as incumbent Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez waits for the results. Sabir, let's talk about why this is such a big race, not just for our state in the region here in southwestern Washington, but the entire country. That's because the U.S. Congress has such a close number of Republicans and Democrats. Right now, the Republicans lead just by a few seats, and this is a toss-up district. That means that whoever wins this race and several of the others across the country could help move who has the majority within Congress. Incumbent Gluesenkamp Perez has held that seat, this will be her third time running. She is aware of what the people of this community want and with all of this focus, Sabir, from so many different other national players putting attention on this race. The millions of dollars invested into this race because of the scale, not just here in the state, but the entire country. There are a lot of big storylines, but I got a chance to speak to Gluesenkamp Perez, a short while ago here in front of her campaign headquarters, she told me her focus, even with all this other outside attention, is on the people of Southwestern Washington. I'm not a political strategist. That's not my job. My job is to represent Southwest Washington. And I'm hopeful that other places will see this and they will find a way out of this Crazy polarization and find a body that is loyal to their communities and not to party bosses. Sabir, during those primaries, it was neck and neck between Braun and Gluesenkamp Perez. There will be a lot more people keeping an eye on this race, other than just our state. But as you heard Gluesenkamp Perez say, her focus is on the people here in Washington, Sabir. AJ, thank you. Another big focus tonight is the many initiatives on the ballot, including the question on repealing the millionaire's tax, transgender athletes in schools and a parent's bill of rights. Let's turn now to Fox 13's Lauren Donovan live outside Redmond City Hall. Hey, Sabir, we are outside here, outside a ballot box here in Redmond, and I'm going to be tracking the yes camp, those voting yes on the initiatives tonight. That is really an effort spearheaded by the Political Action Committee, Let's Go Washington, that brought forth these three initiatives. They're going to have a watch party here in Redmond. It's going to be underway shortly, but let's get into what is at stake here. I know you touched on the three, but I can go a little bit more in depth. So the first of these is initiative one. It's all about the rights parents have within Washington public schools. The question, should parents have access to school records or could it put LGBTQ and vulnerable children at risk? Then there is initiative 638. This pertains to trans athletes participating in girls sports. And we saw what a community flashpoint this issue can really be within the last couple of weeks over in Camas when there was a walkout on the girls cross country team. That story made national headlines. Finally, 645, this initiative dealing with the income tax or the so called millionaire's tax. Should it be repealed? This is the 9.9% tax on those whose individual income is over $1 million passed in the legislature down in Olympia this last session. Now, the ballot box out here in Redmond, let me tell you, it has been busy. This is like one of the last cars, but I'm telling you, there's a whole line up. People are leaving work, dropping off their ballots, kids coming to learn with their parents. It's a great sign in the show of democracy out here this afternoon. And we are going to be at the watch party starting at seven o'clock. So stay tuned for that. We'll send it back to you.